The team gets ready to work on the trim of the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS. The front end of the restomod was damaged so bad that the team will have to replace the two pieces underneath the headlights. Aftermarket and used pieces, both, are very difficult to locate, so Rick Drewry, Sr. Claims Specialist, ended up creating some of his own to use. The primary use of these pieces is as a filler panel from the fender to the chassis, where the radiator is located.

After those are installed, the new front grille will be put onto the classic car. The grille is now buttoned up, bolts are installed, and the front end is coming back together. The team re-installs fresh trim, the Chevrolet letters, pretty much all the missing pieces and final steps before Ami G. is back to “fully” restomod.

In the last episode of The Build, the team from American Modern completed the installation of the tachometer, turn signals and switch panel of the gauge cluster back into the dash of the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS restomod. This episode concentrates on installation of the exhaust.

Rick Drewry, Senior Claims Specialist at American Modern, will begin to work on the exhaust of the ’65 Malibu. They have chosen to go with a simple design, going straight back from the header, then protruding at a 45 degree angle out in front of the rear tires. The collectors have been welded on, then tacked onto the three inch pipe. Measurements were made to figure out exactly where the muffler needed to be placed, so now the team will cut the pipe, fit it, then figure out the rest of the pipe once it is on the actual chassis.

Once they obtain the 45-degree angled’ pipe, they’ll attach it to the muffler to see where it will come in, and also to locate the hanger. In the initial measurements, it looks as though the pipe is too short, so what they’ll do is gain a little more length by butt welding the two pieces of pipe together, tack it in place, then slide the tip on to see how far to cut the pipe. When measuring, the team decides that four inches should be appropriate, this will give them some room to play.

Next, they will look to take the pieces down, tack them in place, weld everything up and paint it, so the exhaust will be fully prepared for installation onto the car for the final time.

After they paint the exhaust, it is now ready to be bolted to the chassis. The chrome tips are the last piece to finish the exhaust. The tips slide right onto the pipes to be clamped down.

We continue to restore the ‘65 Malibu SS collector car on The Build. Be sure to stay up with The Build on our YouTube Channel, to see what else is restored. Also, continue to follow along with the Ami G on our Facebook page.

Now that the hood has been installed and the wiring has been tucked in the classic 1965 Chevy, Rick and the team will begin to work on the gauges. The gauges will be removed from the dash. They will be converting the stock gauge panel first, as they will be replacing the clock with a tachometer. Also, the American Modern team will be replacing the idiot lights with gauges.

First, the new gauge will require cutting the metal of the original ’65 Malibu restomod gauge mounting brackets, where the new gauge will stick through. Then mark the places where the mounting holes will be placed. After the cutting, file the edges, drill the holes, and mount in place.

Next, the replacement tachometer will be taking the place of where the clock was originally in place in the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS restomod. After the tach is set, clean up the areas that are covered with dust and residue from the installation, and get prepared to reinstall the updated mounting bracket.

The next step in the process is to install the new lens on top of the three new gauges. The turn signal indicator lenses will be reinstalled next. Back in the day, they had to use a white bulb, then place a green tint, made of a glass circle, to be placed on the outside of the light.

The gauge cluster is mounted to the back of the dash, along with the switch panel in place instead of the radio.

Now that the seats have been covered and are waiting to be installed by The Build team, it’s time to move back to the exterior. The wiring of the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS is almost completely finished, with everything done from the fuse box all the way to the front of the collector car. The engine is dialed in, and now it’s time to connect and run the wiring to the headlights and the turn signals. The wires will be hidden behind the fenders for a cleaner look.

Once the body panels get mounted to the front of the classic vehicle, like the headlight mounting brackets, then they’ll finish up the front wiring and tuck the wires up and hide them for a smooth look.

The wires are run and tucked out of the way so they are hidden well from the naked eye. After installing the hood stoppers, Rick Drewry, American Modern’s Sr. Claims Specialist, will install the hood striker and latch assembly onto the hood. They’ll check to make sure the hood is flush with the side fenders and then move onto the next phase in the process of restoring the ’65 Chevy restomod.

The latch needs to be locked in tight to remove any movement of the hood when it’s latched. There’s no reason to slam shut a hood, especially a classic car. They should be lowered slowly and then clicked when the latch is in the proper place.

Now that the front hood has been installed and the wiring has been tucked, watch as The Build team continues to put back together the 1965 Chevy Malibu restomod. Make it a priority to watch the other episodes on our YouTube channel, and follow the progress of our collector vehicle on our Facebook page too!

As Rick Drewry, Sr Claims Specialist at American Modern, prepares to install the new covers onto the ’65 Chevy Malibu restomod, there’s only a few things that they are required to do before installation.

First, they will take a premade rod, and slide it directly into place. Then, the back part of the seat is a little easier. The back part fits over the back bracket, where it should be, then you’ll locate the rod, and tuck it in between the cushion. Then you’ll take a set of hog ring pliers, clamp around the hog ring, and squeeze.

Make sure that the clamp is securely fastened by tugging on the cloth. The next step is to pull the cloth out and over the foam. This process will be a tedious process, so make sure you are thorough before turning it over to clamp underneath.

After stretching the fabric over the pivots for the upper part of the seat, you’ll need to make sure the top is fastened first. Then, pull it over, mark where the pivots are for future cutting. After this, stretch the seat cover over the frame.

When doing the other half of the seat cover, turn it inside out in order to install the hog rings into the seam to give it that fit. If you do not do this, it lays out over the foam giving you an unnecessary air pocket. Another tip to have a nice form-fitting seat, is to leave it out in the sun or warm them up, they will become a little bit easier to maneuver.

Make sure to clamp the hog ring to the bar that is outside the material to fasten it, then onto the frame of the seat. Now that the bottom half is fastened, you can focus on aligning the top half. When you hog ring it into the edge of the seat, the rod will make it nice and tucked in.

After installing the hog rings to the sides to seal the cover, the side trim is installed. Locate the mounting holes with the screws, then screw it to the seat. Attach the top part of the seat to the bottom, and finally it’s ready to be put back in the car.

We continue to restore the ‘65 Malibu SS collector car on The Build. Be sure to stay up with The Build on our YouTube Channel, to see what else is restored. Also, continue to follow along with the Ami G on our Facebook page.

In the previous episode of The Build, the team painted the exterior of the 1965 Chevy Malibu, along with adding a customized pinstripe that included American Modern’s logo. In this next episode, Rick Drewry and the rest of the team will begin to work on the interior. Step one will be to remove the current seat covers, then re-cover the seats.

Rick will start by unbolting the frame of the car seat. Some of the time you’ll get lucky when unbolting, but most of the time, elbow grease is required, along with some tools that provide good torque. One of the first things that are required to be removed are the seat adjusters. You’ll need to use an Allen wrench to remove it, since there is an Allen-head screw holding it into its place. With the trim and clips now removed, they can now separate the top part of the seat from the bottom part.

A couple bumpers will need to be taken off next, where the top of the seat rests on the bottom part of the seat. The hog rings hold the material to the frame, which can all be simply cut off and disposed. The material is wedged underneath the seat tracks with hooks, so the next step is to pull the material away from under the seat tracks. Next, a row of hog rings go along each seam, so if you turn the material inside out to expose the cushion, you’ll then find the steel rods. These steel rods will need to be removed in order to make the seat fit correctly. New seat covers are a requirement for The Build’s 1965 Chevy Malibu restomod.

Similar to the bottom part of the seat, the hog rings will be required to be cut off of the top of the seat as well. Be sure you do an extremely thorough job of removing every single hog ring, as it will not feel very pleasant if one remains and you sit on it before driving away in your restored collector car.

As you are fully aware from staying up-to-date with “The Build” , the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS, named Ami G., has made huge strides to get to where she is today. You definitely need to be sure to stay current with all of her updates. Also, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel to get the complete list of episodes of “The Build”.

The team at American Modern will start to put back together the 65 Malibu auto body for the very last time. They will start by reinstalling the trunk, more specifically attaching the trunk to the trunk hinges.

After bolting up the trunk to the hinges, they will make sure it is lined up and smooth across the rear quarter panels.

After lining up the door hinges, they will look to bolt on the actual door. Then they will test fit the radiator to the core support, before mounting the core support to Ami G. The radiator will be attached to the core support. Next they will install the overflow tank onto the core support.

They then look to finish the cowl panel by painting the inside black, which creates a nice and clean look. Before this reinstallation of the cowl panel, the team removed the holes for the windshield wipers, and covered over it to make it look factory, as if it never happened. They will then put the front fenders back on.

After the fenders are installed back onto the body, the wheels will be taken off, and replaced with the stock wheels. This is to make sure that when the car is painted, that any overspray will not get on the new wheels.

Fenders are now buttoned up, time to move onto getting the hood in place.

The team prepares to work on the windshield and the back glass. In order to begin, they need to apply butyl tape to surround the area, along with pinch weld primer, which will enable the tape to stick. After the pinch weld sets in, the tape will be applied, and then the windshield and back glass will be re-installed into the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS restomod.

After installing the windshield, the trim can be re-installed as well, but not until after the car has been repainted. The back glass was also re-installed, and in the process, the team discovered some unwanted scratches. They will now attempt to buff out any of the scratches so that the glass is clean and easy to see out of.

The Chevy Malibu’s back glass will be taped and masked off before buffing to make sure they concentrate the area where they found the scratches. The attempt to buff out all of the scratches was a failure, so the team will now need to completely replace the window.

Now that the windshield and back glass has been put back onto the classic car, watch as The Build team continues to put back together the 1965 Chevy Malibu. Make it your top priority to watch the other episodes on our YouTube channel, and follow the progress of our collector vehicle on our Facebook page too!

The team now begins to install the brake lines and emergency brake cables in the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS restomod. Once this is complete, they can button up the bottom of the classic car. The brake line and emergency brake cables line the underbody of the car, following the frame to be flush with the rest of the collector vehicle.

The brake line is now mounted to the frame, exactly where they need it to be. The front brake hoses are next, they distribute fluid from the steel line on the frame to the wheel. The steel-braided lines are created to be able to move with the suspension and turning of the tires.

The next step is to re-install the original pedal assemblies, but this time they will have brand-new bushings to eliminate vibrations. The brake pedal and clutch pedal will then be inserted into the pedal assembly bracket.

Next, the chrome brake master cylinder will be installed on the firewall, connecting to the brake pedal rod.

Now that the brake lines and pedals has been re-installed back onto the restomod, watch as The Build team continues to put back together the 1965 Chevy Malibu. Make it a priority to watch the other episodes on our YouTube channel, and follow the progress of our collector vehicle on our Facebook page too!

Our team of collector car specialists continue to make the finishing touches on the 1965 Chevy Malibu SS. Watch as the team runs all the wires, including the battery cable, through the frame:

Rick will wrap it up and over the starter, to the solenoid. That way there is plenty of clearance from the header, because the headers can literally burn the coating off of the battery cable. Rick will then cut around the outside cover, in order to crimp in the end to pull it right up to the starter.

The fuel hose and battery cable are now installed, everything is connected that needs to be connected, and it’s time to put the body on, and mount it to the frame for the final time. The crew will wheel the frame out, and lift the body up, then lower the body down onto the frame. In order to align it up exactly, it takes extreme attention to detail, along with exact measurements.

The body bolts will be hand-tightened first, and then again will be tightened to the chassis and the frame with an impact wrench so it’s nice and snug.

The body is now mounted to the frame, with the engine sitting pretty low. So luckily the coil-over shocks will allow for adjustments, in order to clear such things like speedbumps. Moving the springs on the adjustable shocks with the bottom knuckle lock blot, to the shock to the spring.

Now that the frame has been bolted back onto the chassis, watch as The Build team continues to put back together the 1965 Chevy Malibu restomod. Make it a priority to watch the other episodes on our YouTube channel, and follow the progress of our collector vehicle on our Facebook page too!

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